Water main breaks close Ridge Avenue in East Falls

A Water Department spokesman said one water main, maybe two, broke on Ridge Ave near Scotts Lane.
Photo credit Tim Jimenez/KYW Newsradio

UPDATED: 10 p.m.

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Dozens of homes and businesses in East Falls are waiting to get their water turned on again as crews work to fix one of two water mains that broke just after midnight on Friday. 

The two breaks happened around 12:30 a.m. on Ridge Avenue, according to the Philadelphia Water Department. The first took place along Clearfield Street, which is right by Laurel Hill Cemetery; the other, a few blocks down, close to Scotts Lane. 

To get a handle on the gushing water, crews cut off water service to three blocks in East Falls. That made getting ready for work a tough task for Dante Cain who lives close to where one of the pipes burst.

Water flowing along Ridge Avenue between Scotts Lane and Ferry Road because of a water main break. @KYWNewsradio pic.twitter.com/AbdSGgyKGk

— Tim Jimenez (@TimJRadio) February 15, 2019

Not as bad as it was earlier, but water is still flowing down Ridge Avenue towards Ferry Road because of a water main break. Apparently there were two breaks a few blocks apart on Ridge. @KYWNewsradio pic.twitter.com/WkrdhMMFoj

— Tim Jimenez (@TimJRadio) February 15, 2019

"I wake up, do my usual morning routine, start turning on faucets and realize that there isn’t any water," he said.

"I completely went through the whole house to see if any other faucets were working until I looked outside and realized that I guess a water main had broke and I didn’t realize it."

When the break was at its worst, water was spilling out onto Ridge Avenue, and it flowed all the way down to Ferry Road, which is near the ramp to get onto northbound Roosevelt Boulevard. As bad as it looked, homes, businesses and parked cars were not seriously damaged.

Just before 10 p.m. Friday, Philadelphia Water Deparment officials released a statment saying, "Crews continue to work on the broken water main along the 4000 block of Ridge Ave. Work will likely finish during the overnight hours. We intend to reopen Ridge Ave when work is complete and cleaned up. The water main has been repaired on the 3500 block of West Clearfield, however that block is closed until further notice."